2019 La Lagune

The 2019 La Lagune offers exquisite transparency on the nose - one of the most terroir-expressive Pessac-Léognan wines this vintage. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grain tannins, taut and fresh, quite saline with a very integrated and poised finish that lingers in the mouth. Wonderful - could this be the best La Lagune in years? Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.

Tasted blind. Racy and fruity and with a backbone of fine tannin. Suave and ambitious. Long and subtle with lots of minerality and length. Drying finish. (JR)

Wafting from the glass with aromas of cherries, wild berries and cassis mingled with hints of dark chocolate, pencil shavings and violets, the 2019 La Lagune is medium to full-bodied, broad and sensual, its ample core of fruit framed by polished tannins and succulent acids. In its elegant, generous style, it's reminiscent of a modern-day version of the brilliant 1990. One of the Médoc's southernmost and most precocious sites, La Lagune occupies two domes of fine gravel, some 1.5 meters deep, that becomes sandier in the vineyard's lower-lying sectors. The trend when replanting has been for Cabernet Sauvignon to displace Merlot on the prime sectors of the vineyard, and farming is organic (certified from 2020 on), with cover crops and less frequent mechanical cultivation than in the past. Winemaking is classical, with gentle pump-overs, and the press wine is carefully selected before inclusion. In the cellar, maturation occurs with some 50% new oak. The result is a rather sensual, seamless wine, with plenty of fleshy charm and fine aging potential, and the 2019 has turned out extremely well.